Month: January 2014

Helen had been praising the ‘mousing’ abilities of her Weimeraner ‘Rosie’ recently as it spent increasing amounts of time stalking them in the feed store.

Unfortunately it would appear that one rather enterprising rodent decided to take refuge within my new quad bike. Whether the dog actually caught her quarry I don’t know, but in her attempt she managed to notch up some £800 worth of damage to the bike, including a shredded seat and chewed electrics. I hardly dared to telephone the insurers with the details – but was reliably informed that we were not the first to suffer in this way.

You can therefore imagine my delight when I spotted an advertisement at my local abattoir seeking new homes for twenty-two feral cats found on site. Our two new guests were delivered by the Cat Protection League neutered and with all their homely comforts in tow. Much to the children’s delight they have turned out to be less feral than anticipated and have certainly made themselves at home, regularly enjoying ringside seats at the side of the sheep handling system when we’re vaccinating.

Exactly how many rodents they are catching is rather hard to judge, as their appetite for cat food is undiminished. Perhaps a few rodent traps would have been a cheaper alternative (but don’t tell the children!)?